


Loud Mornings

by carolion



Category: American Idol RPF
Genre: Angst, Awkwardness, Gen, M/M, Pre-Slash, Regret
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-09
Updated: 2012-12-09
Packaged: 2017-11-20 16:39:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 591
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/587509
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/carolion/pseuds/carolion
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>David dreams of Archie, and the quiet life they could have had. (Fic train fill. Prompt: loud mornings.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Loud Mornings

In his dreams, it's quiet.

In his dreams, it's still.

In his dreams, he's with Archie, and they're happy, content to sit together in silence as Archie worries his lip and scribbles down notes in a clean, new notebook, and David lazily strokes Dublin's fur. Now and then Archie hums a chord and frowns at his notebook, changing a note or adding a lyric. He doesn't ask David's opinion, not while he's still actively working on the songs, but David knows he'll ask later, when he has some semblance of a completed song. Archie takes criticism pretty well, probably because he's so eager to learn and so modest about his own song-writing, and David loves sitting down with him to pick at the song structure and suggest changes. A song is never really finished, he explains to Archie, but you do the best you can. 

He has a whole other life in his dreams. One where he didn't walk away, hands raised desperately, from Archie when the teenager had come to him during those first few months. One where he doesn't feel so lost and lonely despite the dozens of people who surround him. One where Archie looks at him with love in his eyes, instead of the fractured hurt and mistrust that he sees now.

His dreams are pleasant and blessedly quiet. It's only when he wakes does the noise pour in and that feeling of peace slips away. 

It's the pounding headache and the constant _noise_ that drives him to David Archuleta's doorstep with only a duffel bag and his wallet in tow. It's like as soon as the door opens and he's staring into Archie's surprised eyes that the loudness of the world begins to bleed away and he finds comfort in the familiar face.

David clears his throat. 

"Do you mind if I - " Archie seems to give him an incredulous look, and David nearly loses his courage. "Can I crash here tonight? I just need to get away." He shifts awkwardly. 

"I figured no one would think to look for me here," he mumbles - as if that's some sort of legitimate excuse. 

Archie regards him silently for a minute and then opens his door and steps aside to let David in. 

"Yeah of course. There's a guest room upstairs, to the left. Make yourself comfortable." 

David tries to keep his eyes down and not look at Archie too closely, even though he's desperate to grab his hands tell him he's sorry, he's so fucking sorry, and if Archie could just give him a second chance - but he doesn't deserve _this_ courtesy, the privilege of using Archie's house as an escape, so he sure as hell doesn't deserve Archie forgiveness, or his friendship, or his _love_. 

He walks up the stairs and into the offered room, and the bone-deep weariness slams into him all at once as he begins to get ready for bed. He's just gotten up to turn off the light when Archie appears at the doorway, back lit by the light from the hallway, only a shadow to David. He stays there for a few minutes, and David is afraid to breathe, wondering if Archie has changed his mind and is about to throw him out. But then Archie seems to deflate a little bit, his shoulders slumping.

"Sleep well Cook," he says quietly, turning to leave and closing the door behind him, and David says nothing as he crawls into bed. 

He doesn't dream that night - but at least when he wakes it's _quiet_.


End file.
